After finishing off the AL, lets jump on over to the NL West and check out the amnesty candidates in this division.

NL WEST

Diamondbacks- Since players that signed new deals this offseason are ineligible to be amnestied, you have to go down the list to find a potential candidate. Though Kevin Towers has done a good job at helping the Diamondbacks turn the corner and get back into the playoffs, I was not totally on board with some of the contracts he gave out this offseason. Ok enough rambling; my choice for the D’backs is Geoff Blum and his .224 avg. Blum will make $1.35mm this next season as a utility player. His best season came in 2002 when he hit .283 in 368 at-bats.

Padres-Jason Bartlett and Orlando Hudson are both set to make $5.5mm and had similar averages (.245 to .246) last season. The difference though is defense with the advantage going to Hudson thus making Bartlett the amnesty candidate for the Padres. Bartlett posted a .971 fielding percentage while making 18 errors at shortstop (612 chances). Hudson who played second base posted a .993 fielding percentage while only making 4 errors (550 chances).

Giants- Lets make this short and sweet, Barry Zito. Zito has two years left and $39mm on his seven-year $126mm deal that started in 2007. Since he signed his deal, Zito has yet to post an era below 4. He does have a vesting option for 2014 that vests with 200 innings pitched in 2013 or 400 innings in 2012-2013. He has yet to break the 200 inning marker and call me crazy, but I just don’t the Giants will let his option vest at $18mm if he doesn’t regain his Oakland form.

Dodgers- Since the Dodgers gave Kevin Brown $105mm back in 1998 a few things in the organization have changed a bit. They now love to hand out two and three year deals to declining veterans that are severely back-loaded thanks to the ownership situation. The Dodgers acquired Ted Lilly in 2010 and resigned him to a three-year $33mm back-loaded deal. Lilly earned $7mm last season and held his own while posting a 3.97 era. But the next two seasons, his salary will jump to $10.5mm and $12mm. If the amnesty clause was put in place like basketball it would allow a team to use it immediately, which would have allowed the Dodgers an additional $10.5mm to throw at someone like Prince Fielder to help fill another need. That’s right I forgot McCourt would’ve used the savings to pay off attorney bills, my bad.

Rockies- The Rockies presented a tough decision as I went back and forth between Todd Helton and his two-years and $9.9mm total left or injured Jorge de la Rosa and his $21mm (assuming he picks up player option for 2013). Helton re-worked his contract to free up money to allow the Rockies to fill other needs. Getting rid of the face of the franchise after all that he has done for the club and even re-working his deal for them would not go over well, which is why I didn’t select him. De la Rosa got my vote which some may disagree with. He is on a strict rehab program as he attempts to regain his form after Tommy Johny surgery last season. He isn’t expected to pitch until June and could be 2013 or ‘14 before he is able, if ever to regain his form. That type of money could be better spent elsewhere for a club that had a total payroll of around $82mm last season.

Image taken by terren in Virgina and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.